This invention relates to loading mechanisms, and, more particularly, to lift devices suitable for loading handicapped persons with or without wheelchairs into vehicles such as busses or other types of public conveyances. It also relates to lift devices suitable for helping such persons in negotiating steps at the entrance of, or within, a building.
Lift devices which in the past were designed for vehicular use, were relatively bulky and cumbersome, taking up a great deal of space in the interior of such vehicles. It is clearly preferable to have the lift devices completely contained in the vehicles when such vehicles are in motion; however, the large size of the lift mechanisms has often necessitated external location of at least a portion of such equipment. The vehicle cargo capacity has often been greatly reduced by the portion of the lift mechanism located inside the vehicle.
Furthermore, the size and complexity of such lift mechanisms often required that a special opening be cut into the side of the vehicle, in addition to the normal entrances, in order to accomodate the lifts.
Lift mechanisms designed to help handicapped persons in negotiating steps at the entrance of, or within a building which have been provided up to the present time, have been relatively bulky and unsightly. These devices often interfere with the common use of the steps by normal people, and may require the opening of special doors or the installation of special ramps in addition to the normal entrances and stairways. The proposed lift device in its stowed position can act as the normal step structure and be completely hidden within it.